The NBA is in talks with Disney, Warner Bros. on its next media rights deal, which begins after the 2024-25 season. He has deals with Discovery, Amazon and NBC. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said this month that talks are still ongoing, but multiple reports have indicated that Warner Bros. Discovery, TNT’s parent company, could lose NBA rights for the first time since 1988.
“There’s been a lot of buzz around our network over the past few months,” Barkley said. “I’ve talked to other networks, but I’m not going anywhere but TNT. But I have decided for myself: whatever happens, next year will be my last year on television.
“I want to say thank you to my NBA family. You guys have been good to me. My heart is full of joy and gratitude. But I will be passing the baton at the end of next year. I hope the NBA stays with TNT. But, for me personally, I wanted you guys to hear from me.”
Barkley, who has hinted at retirement for years, performed on NBA TV’s postgame show following the Dallas Mavericks’ 122-84 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
“I’m not doing any more interviews,” he said. “You all don’t call me. I will never talk about this again. I wanted to tell my TNT and NBA TV family that I’m not going to another network. I pass the baton to Jamal Crawford, Vince Carter or Steve. [Smith]He said.
TNT Sports he said in a statement. On Saturday, Barkley was and will be a “beloved member of the TNT Sports family,” and the network was looking forward to “another great ‘NBA on TNT’ season and further discussion about our future plans with him.”
Barkley signed a contract extension with TNT through 2022 that reportedly gives him the option to leave the network if it fails to renew its media rights deal with the NBA. As the negotiations dragged on for months, Barclay repeatedly criticized TNT’s leadership and expressed his support for the network’s rank-and-file employees.
“I want to say this because you guys are my family,” Barkley said. “I really love TNT, everyone who works here, and NBA Television. You have been great to me for 24 years. I want to say thank you to my entire NBA family. I love you.”
In the year Johnson, 67, who joined Turner Sports in 1989, said last month he would not leave TNT, even though the network lost its NBA rights.
Silver said on June 6 that media rights negotiations were “incredibly complex” and that league staff were “working literally around the clock” to finalize new deals.
“It’s complicated for a lot of reasons,” Silver said. “One is the advent of new platforms, especially streaming and the interest of streaming companies, then traditional media companies taking our games on streaming platforms.
It’s complicated with multiple partners all looking for the same assets. In many cases, it’s just a matter of knowing the right way to balance those games when going to different partners. Then, finally, we try to make long-term deals. We think this is good for the stability of the league, but to some extent you are trying to predict the future, which of course is impossible.
The commissioner added that “in the NBA” he has a “special” role in the league’s community and “has a close relationship with everyone on this show.”
“On the one hand, from a league perspective, it’s a great thing to be liked and wanted and have a lot of suitors,” Silver said. “At the same time, I’m concerned that it’s zero-sum, because at the end of the day there are only so many television packages, there are only so many playoffs and playoffs and regular season games to distribute.
“For the people who seem to have the most impact right now, the people at Turner Sports, I apologize for the length of the process because I know they’re committed to their work. I know people who work in this industry. It’s a big part of who they are and what their family is, and nobody likes that uncertainty.” I think it’s up to the league office to bring these negotiations to a head and get them done as quickly as possible.